


What if, We aren't alone?

by oOLucentStoriesOo



Category: The Willoughbys (2020)
Genre: Anxiety Disorder, Developing Friendships, Dysfunctional Family, Emotional/Mental healing, Family Angst, Family Dynamics, Family Fluff, Family Issues, Fluff and Angst, Healing, Mentions of emotional/psychological abuse, Mentions of self-harm, Multi, New found friendships, Platonic Relationships, Platonic Soulmates, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Soul-Searching, Supportive Family/Friends, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, mentions of child abuse, new found family
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-20
Updated: 2020-12-06
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:07:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,161
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26564092
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oOLucentStoriesOo/pseuds/oOLucentStoriesOo
Summary: After being adopted into the Melanoff household; Tim, Jane and the Barnaby twins grew up a happy teenagers and with the love and affection from the Melanoff couple, the siblings are slowly adapting to the new change of lifestyle as well as healing from the trauma that is deeply rooted in their previous upbringing. However, when the Willoughby-Melanoff children entered their teenage years and began expanding their circle; they encountered stories that mirrors to their own bitter experiences, making them realize that they aren't the ones experiencing the abuse caboose.
Relationships: Linda|Nanny/Commander Melanoff, The Willoughby Siblings, The Willoughby Siblings/Original Characters
Comments: 2
Kudos: 8





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This is my attempted fanfiction ever made, I dedicate this to one of the new fandom I was in lately.  
> Excuse my writing for being a bit off, I would like to do better in the future chapters  
> so a helpful criticism is appreciated.
> 
> Fair note; this is an AU type of story, the information regarding the siblings and the melanoff are a mix of both the adaptation and book.

Here is an excerpt for you…”If you love stories about families that stick together and love each other through thick and thin and it all ends happily ever after... this isn't the story for you, okay?”  
As far as old fashioned traditions may go, some of them are still hidden within the modern world, while with those that live under these traditions find it beneficial for them, for others…Well…It’s awfully draining, yeah, we all know what one might be thinking; parents that have no love for their children, child gets punished for something they did not do, invalidating a child’s feelings and etcetera. Quite reminiscent of the Willoughby children is it not? However, much like the old fashioned stories, they did ended up with a happy ending all along, filled with a colorful imagination and creativity after their former parents throw themselves across the ocean out of idiocy. Now they just live their lives like a modern functioning family would.  
\----  
In the present moment, much like every other teenage kids, they would have to go to high school and being the eldest among the siblings, Timothy have gotten ahead in the academics, entering his junior year, followed by the twins being on their sophomore year . Now, one might think that these children probably had the dullest and worst years of their lives…Not entirely…Timothy has been acing his subjects, up until sophomore year, retaining his high position in the top ten students of redwood high. As for the twins they kept entering their innovative inventions in the school’s annual science fair, although they may not won last year, their works are certainly noticeable and admired by their fellow students and some teachers in the arts and science department, of course these twins would not deemed their year a success without taking advantage of their identical looks, pulling a good Ol’ switch-a-roo; just to drive their teachers crazy whenever they switch, entering each other’s separate classrooms.  
And now it is Jane’s turn to join her siblings as she enters her freshmen year. It was the first day of the school year and the children couldn’t be any more excited to start another year…Well…at least one Melanoff child is one.

“Come on Jane hurry up! You’ve been in there for hours now!” Tim knocked on the bathroom door, calling out for his sister.  
There was no response, all he hears is a continuous jolly jingle on the other inside, the eldest sighed in annoyance, crossing his arms and repeatedly tapping his foot. It wasn’t long till Jane came out of the bathroom drying up her hair till it is damp, 

“You can’t rush perfection brother dear” Jane sang as she skips out fully dressed and ready. “It’s my first day in high school there is no way in hell I will look like mother Helga’s ugly rug” she said scoffing at the comparison. 

“So, we really aren’t doing the great thing anymore, hu?” he asked, after noticing Jane’s mustache-less face  
“Nope! It was fun at first but it gets really irritating when it gets all sweaty” Jane answered,

“Since you are all groomed and done, go straight downstairs” Tim said with a half-smile on his face. “M-mom made us breakfast” 

“You don’t need to tell me, I am not a kid anymore”, Jane rolled her eyes with a chuckle. Jane went downstairs and headed to the kitchen, leaving her brother do his own business. Behind the close bathroom door, Tim looked at the new clothes that he freely picked up from the store yesterday when they went family shopping. He cannot help but to smile every time he remembers how their new parents would give them the stuff they wanted without feeling sorry for it. Sure the positivity can be very overwhelming, especially for kid who knew nothing about the modern lifestyle and always being shoved inside the coal bin. He gave off a sigh of determination, deciding to overcome his bitter past and say hi to the new. 

Meanwhile, as Jane got to the kitchen, she was met by the same woman who oozes with a cheerful disposition “Oh! Good morning Jane I made you guys your favorite”, Linda said, giving the little pink haired girl a hug. 

“Good morning mom” Jane said hugging back. “Where was little Ruthie by the way?” she asked looking for the girl.  
“Well it is her first day in school and your father had to accompany her” Linda replied, “As for me, I am driving you kids to your school” she added. 

“You should try this Jane it’s so good”, Barnaby A said.  
“Mamma Linda made the pancakes extra special today” Barnaby B added. 

Oh boy, a plate of oatmeal pancakes glazed with maple syrup, fruit cups and bacon. The plate of colorful breakfast made the girl’s stomach rumble, Jane seated next to the twins, and she grabbed a fork and began eating. After Linda poured a chocolate milk on Jane’s glass, she noticed that the girl also got rid of their mustache. 

“Wow I see that all of you are turning a new leaf, I see?” Linda giggled.  
“Oh yeah, New Year new us. Right Barnabys” Jane said proudly, as a response the twins nodded at her raising their thumbs up together. 

“You tell em’ Jane” they hear a voice, It wasn’t long until Tim joined the family for breakfast. He turned the heads of everyone seated at the family table, their eyes gleamed in surprise, Tim was no longer wearing the typical old fashioned clothes that he used to wear, and it’s as if his sophistication leveled up. 

“Wow looking snazzy there family man ” Linda said with a smile on her face, “Who are you and where is Timothy?” Jane playfully teased. The twins left speechless and looked at each other,

“This is better” Barnaby A said.  
“Definitely way better” Barnaby B replied. 

Linda happily hugged Tim a good morning before letting him join his siblings. As the siblings enjoy their breakfast, Linda continued to the counter and prepare the children’s school meal. She began to have a surge of memory; she never knew that the day would come of having a family of her own, or better yet, a group of once strangers joined together by fate forming into a delightful family. Her momentum was cut off by a sudden warmth around her, she saw the teenage kids hugging her, 

“We thought we heard someone wanting a group hug”, Barnaby B said.  
“A family group hug”, Barnaby A followed. 

“Thank you for everything mom” Tim said.  
“We love you” Jane followed. 

“Aww thank you guys”. Linda replied in a sweet tone, wipping her happy tear, “Are you guys done? We need to head off, I don’t want you guys to be late” she added.  
After a family breakfast, the children grabbed their stuff before heading out, entering the car one by one. While they wait for Linda, the Barnaby twins began twiddling on on their phones, as for Jane, cannot help but notice the things she had heard and observed from her brother’s behaviors, especially Timothy, 

“Never thought I’d hear you start addressing Linda as Mom”, Jane smiled at Tim whose reading a pocket novel at the front seat. 

Tim replied “After everything she had done for us that not even our parents would do? How could I not…Momma Linda is more of a mom than Helga ever was”.  
Jane is left surprised after hearing her brother address their former mother by her name instead. “Wow that’s uh…" before Jane could even finish her sentence. Tim interrupted, " and even though I had somewhat of a hard time adjusting to this new lifestyle I decided to take things one step at a time you know”. 

“We all are big bro…We all do” Jane said, patting Tim’s shoulders before leaning back to her seat.

“Is everyone ready?” Linda asked as she went in the car, inserting the key that started the engine and began to driving off. 

See? A happy family, and while the former Willoughby children slowly heal from the events of yesterday, they are still living a great time of their lives under the care of a loving parents, there is no way on earth can match this family story…Right?


	2. New year, New faces

  
New classroom, New school period and New faces. Jane had the opportunity to go around and strike up small conversations, but of course every new school year cannot progress without the dreaded introduce yourself bid. Every teenager in the classroom would have to introduce themselves in front of the whole class. When it was Jane’s turn, she felt a sudden feeling on her kneels, why does it feel so cold? She feels like she cannot stand on her own, she have never felt this before, she would usually get along with just about any student just by introducing herself, where did her confidence ran off too? She thought, she continued to give herself a pep-talk, to play it cool and pretend that she is on stage ready to perform a song. When she stood up in front, she could not shrug off the feeling of everyone looking at her,

“I’m uhh- I-“Jane stuttered. 

  
‘It’s ok dear, just relax and don’t be shy.” Said the teacher.

  
“Uhm…My name is Jane Willoughby Melanoff, and my talent is singing and my dream is to perform on musicals” Jane introduced.

  
‘Wow a singer hu? I always wanted to be one back then, Mind if you give us a sample?” the teacher happily asked. 

  
The teacher’s request further caught the entire class’ attention, chanting for the girl to sing. Jane felt her knees shaken, she never knew she would be this overwhelmed despite having to perform before in her elementary year. She cleared her throat and began singing a familiar refrain.

  
_Through the glass, over the hedge_  
_Follow the rainbow to where my dreams_  
_Begin-_

As she sang, the cold feeling rushing down her knee is replaced with comfort and . The teacher began conducting her hands to the tune while the class listen intently some don’t find her singing quite enjoyable, but nevertheless, Jane managed to entertain her classmates and teacher on the first day. 

  
_I choose you-_

  
The class as well the teacher gave her a round of applause, Jane took a bow and returned to her seat. 

  
“Thank you Ms. Melanoff for that wonderful performance, and now we will continue to our introduction” The teacher said, writing down her name on the white board that says Tiana Miller

Remember when some of her classmates don’t find her singing enjoyable? Well as soon as she took her seat, small whispers from behind her echoed in her ears,   
_“Wow, she is so cool”_  
_“Ugh- whatever, she isn’t even that good”_  
_“She sounds like a like a wanna be”_  
_“Pfft- more like a Will-not be”_  
_“Cut it out you guys, she can hear you”_

  
Jane looked back only to catch a group of students talking about her, some of them are looking straight at her, one of the girls arched their eyebrow at the sight of her; Jane’s eyebrows furrowed and looked back on her desk, shrugging off what she just heard. Student upon student that introduces themselves, she kept hearing the same whispers but with different judgment every time, it’s as if these students are one of those snobby judges from musical auditions. Jane tried to keep her cool, until this one, the teacher called out to the student sitting in front of her, 

  
“You, young man with a gray hoodie, you’re up”, Said Ms. Tiana 

  
He stood up and tucked his hands inside the hoodie pocket, he faced the class and looks rather tired with that unkempt brown light brown hair. 

  
“I am Cody Abbott and my dream is…” the boy stopped and eyed on the teacher, Jane can tell that he is embarrassed as she was, “My dream is to perform in theaters...I-I' am good at singing and dancing.”. 

  
“Wow looks like we have a whole lot of theater kids in this class, I could make up a glee club in here” Ms. Tiana chuckled at the thought.

  
The whole class went silent from what Cody had said, no one expects a gloomy looking kid to be in an upbeat profession. The students from behind Jane began giggling and holding their laughter. 

  
“Him? In theater? Looking like that?!” A girl with a dark brown hair said, pointing at Cody. “He wouldn’t even make it in the audition”

  
Jane's instinct kicked in unconsciously slamming her palm on her table and turned around, “Can you stop being rude? For like five minutes!”

  
“What was that Jane?” said the teacher asked confused. Looking at Jane looking at a group of students.

“What? I never said anything”, the girl with brown hair said, arching her eyebrow back at Jane.

“Ms. Tiana, these guys have been nitpicking on EVERY student that introduces themselves. We can’t even appreciate them!” Jane called out, pointing her finger at the girl and her friends.

  
“Ms. Melan-“the teacher said but was interrupted by the pink haired girl, 

  
“So what if he wants to be a performer? At least he got talent, what can you do besides run your mouth?” Jane chided at the girl. 

  
Cody silently excused himself and pulled Jane to distract her,

“Hey dude its fine! - just let it go” he whispered, “You’re gonna get in trouble”. Jane was so caught up with her irritation she forgot to realize that her chiding already caught the attention of her classmates, all of them looking at her.

  
“Ms. Melanoff we do not tolerate yelling in this classroom, now shut it” Ms. Tiana’s warning somewhat reminded Jane of something- a distant memory perhaps? Nevertheless, this made the girl purse her lip and faced back in front. 

  
After a while, the entire class finished with the introductions and the class moved to the curriculum introduction: _History 101_ , however, Jane cannot focus on what the teacher was saying. Her mind was fixated on the commotion that happened, her mind began playing what ifs; What if she didn’t stood up for Cody, the boy would have felt invalidated or what if she didn’t stop she could’ve silenced the group of students behind her, especially that brown haired girl. First the knee shaking, the feeling of something is stuck in her throat, now her favorite line to say slowly becoming gloomy, what is with her today, she thought. 

She felt something tug on her knee, she saw an arm holding out in front of her, it was Cody’s arm, trying to give her a piece of paper. She took it without a second thought and unfold it, 

  
_“Sorry for ruining your first day, but you shouldn’t have stood up for me like that, even if I appreciated it, those students behind you, I know of them. It is best to not be on their bad side–Cody”._

\------

While Jane started off on a rocky road, meanwhile, her brother Timothy was doing pretty well himself, at least it’s what he thought, he approached the same group of friends that welcomed him since the beginning of his school year in Redwood, he felt less alone this time around. Even though he loves his siblings and sees them as his best friends since childhood, he also desired to have friends outside the family circle. 

  
“Woah do you got a date or something, Timmy?” Ronan teased, catching their other friend’s attention. 

  
“Ok let’s not make a big deal out of it Ron, it’s just something I have been planning for a while now” he claimed. ‘By the way, did you guys heard? We got a new classmate joining us this year, I heard Ms. Harrington talking to about it” he added.

  
“Oh yeah I already knew about her” A blonde boy said.

  
“How on earth did you know? The student is new” Tim asked. 

  
“Because I can already see her number on my phone” The blonde boy replied, adjusting his glasses proudly. 

  
Ronan slapped the back of the boy’s head, “Keep it in your pants Matthew, we know that you got every girl’s number in school”. 

  
“Tim never said the student was girl". Ronan scoffed. 

  
Although not popular, Tim is aware that his group of friends are known for bantering with one another. These are one of those moments. It wasn’t long when they heard Ms. Harrington’s voice echo across the room, “Good morning class, nice to see all of you again. Please take your seats”.

  
Now, teachers like Ms. Harrington, is the type of teachers that just skips ahead with the introductions and goes straight with the curriculum, and even though she is fun to chat with, Ms. Harrington really can't make her handled subjects, be more lively, always ending up with nothing but dull class presentations, And as such, Tim’s guess was right, as after a few discussions in, Ms. Harrington announced that she will be grouping this year's class again. 

  
“Alright, I have decided to group you kids into five and each group will present your assigned task” the teacher announced. "And since we are in literature I want you all to reenact a scene from the topics I have given you". 

Or not. Acting? coming from a family that has a knack for inventing things, Timothy wasn't so sure if he can handle it. Another thing that bothers him is that he cannot tolerate, working with another lazy group. He had spent his last years being bailed at by his group mates making him end up doing most of the work, only for these lazy teenagers to show up during the presentations and asking him to put their name on the credits. And since they will be reenacting things, he thought that this might be a problem.

  
The teacher began sorting out students per group, and unfortunately for Timothy, it was the same egg heads except for one student. _Wheatly_ a last name that rang in his ears, where have he heard that before? 

“Alright, these same faces will be your partners in crime for the rest of the quarter, you got a time to lounge around but by next three days, the real work begins”. Ms. Harrington said. “Now you can go back to mingling with your friends, how was everyone’s break by the way?” 

  
Apparently Timothy wasn’t the only one who got the news, as the student at the front seat raised her hand, “So we heard we got a new classmate joining us? Who was it Ms. Harrington?” all the students listened closely. 

  
“She is a transfer student, for personal reasons, I do hope you get along with her, hopefully by tomorrow she would be able to join us, I want her to at least catch up to the things I gave you guys.” Ms. Harrington said. 

  
Matthew leaned to the side, trying to get Timothy’s attention, “I told you it’s a girl” 

  
Ronan heard what Matthew said and grabbed a piece of paper, crumpling it before throwing it at Matthew with a grin on his face. “What did I just say earlier Mat!”

  
Timothy ignored the banters between Ronan and Matthew, his mind was fixated on a distant memory, the last time he heard the word “Personal reasons” he kept remembering the accident in his freshman year. Despite having being one of the brightest kid in school, there are a few odd habits that resurface from time to time in which remained holding him back in terms of socializing properly. He had a flashback of Nanny and his teacher talking about this “Personal reasons”, he rests his forearm on the table and held his hands together. Matthew noticed that Timothy is doing that thing again, staring at his balled hands with a blank expression for a long period of time. As far as Matthew would make distasteful innuendos; just for laughs, he was the one who understood more of why Timothy possesses odd quirks, so he never questioned it. Matthew flicked Timothy’s ears getting the pink haired boy’s attention. Timothy looked at Matthew, the boys don’t even need to say anything to each other to understand what was going on. 

"Everything is fine man, it's ok" Matthew assured. 

  
\---

  
Skipping a few hours ahead to recess, the four siblings decided to stick around together and would meet up at the school patio, When the twins arrived, Jane was already seated there with a young man who is about her age, The Barnaby twins spent most of their time playing co-op games on their phones, now mind you, they are in different classrooms, and this is their way of connecting with each other. As their intended teachers are not around and are supervised with a substitute for the meantime, and since it is the first day of the school year, things are rather laid back for the twins. So not much has happened. 

  
“Hey A, Hey B” Jane greeted the approaching twins, 

  
When Cody saw the twins he could not believe his eyes, seeing twin siblings that are highly identical, usually twin siblings have these unique features to tell them apart, however for these two, if one of them lacks the ponytail he would not even be able to tell them apart! 

  
“A and B?” Cody muttered under his breath. Tilting his head upon hearing it. 

  
“Cody meet my twin brothers the Barnaby twins…Twins this is Cody, he is my classmate in history class” Jane introduced.

“Nice to meet you guys” Cody said. A sudden feeling of stagnation blocking his breathing, making his chest feel tighter. He began feeling like he can’t move but at the same time having the urge to just run. Oh no not again not this time just stay and play it off he thought, it is the same feeling every time he sees his circle of friends, expanding   
The boy remained collected as he anticipated the other brother to come along, soon after, Timothy had arrived, he saw Jane’s arm wrapped around Cody’s while they watch the twins play. Jane looked up and saw her brother sat down in front of them, 

  
“Hey Tim! How is first day?” Jane asked. 

  
“Eh same old faces, well kind of” Tim replied, putting down his bag. ‘So who’s the new kid?” Tim asked eying at boy next to Jane. 

  
“Oh by the way, this is Cody, he is my friend throughout the first period. Cody meet Tim, he’s our older brother” Jane introducing them to one another. However, for Cody, Timothy's curious gaze was rather intimidating for him, hoping that her brother doesn’t get the wrong idea. 

“Nice to meet you, anyways! How are your classes?” Tim said, dismissing eye contact from Cody. 

Here he goes again, with his big brother instinct kicking in, can this boy relax for just a little?

“I almost got into trouble” Jane nervously laughed, “after speaking up for Cody” 

“Seriously? On your first day?” Timothy asked, raising his eyebrow. “Remember what I had told you before this day?”

“Ok! let’s not start” Barnaby A suggested with an awkward smile, holding up his arm between Jane and Tim

“Uhhh just Ignore this ok?” Barnaby B suggested to Cody, 

“B!” Tim said, "what?" B replied. 

Cody felt a rising tension, “I- I think I should go” he said, he hurriedly picked up his belongings and ran off to the opposite direction. 

"No wait! Cody!" Jane called back but it was too late, the boy was already a mile away, Jane looked back at Tim and said “What are you?- Dude! look what you done!” Jane said pointing at the boy running away. 

“What I done?! What di-” Tim asked.

“I know what you mean but look - those guys from our class are asking for it, these group of snobs just don't have any respect” Jane replied.  
  
“Jane, I admire your white knight complex but this is high school, you can’t just go throwing fists at people just because they got something to say, even if it is mean” Timothy   
answered. “Listen, just promise me you wouldn’t do that again? I don’t want any of you to get in trouble, we got new names and I dare say that we should not taint it”. 

Jane groaned, rolled her eyes from her brother’s sermon. Some siblings just cannot find the middle ground when it comes to morality can't they? One cannot stand idle by when there is a situation that needs to be addressed and the other one just doesn't want to get in trouble.

Timothy's thoughts were cut off, when he hears a familiar quote distracted him from what he was about to say.

_“How will I restore honor to House Wheatly if I’ am not not living in the Wheatly house?!”_


	3. The new kids

_“It’s not like I sullied our great name…Yeah my second class just ended”_

Timothy turned his head to the direction of the exasperated voice, he saw a girl with a curly brown hair and a sun-kissed complexion, her attire seemed to be old-fashioned compared to the other students that walk in the school grounds,

_“Uhh yeah, I already ate, I swear…Now if you excuse me, I got classes to catch.”_

The girl turned off her phone, shoving it back inside her pocket, she noticed the boy looking at her. She looked at him from head to toe before taking her leave, Jane tapped her distracted brother’s shoulders and said,

“We’re hungry, let’s go to the canteen, where is it by the way?”

“We only got a few minutes till the bell for the second period” Barnaby B said. The siblings got up from their resting spot and headed to the school canteen,

“Oh man, if Cody didn’t run away we could have invited him to come along with us” Jane said. “Way to go Tim”

“Don’t be so fussy over one kid, how about when you get to see him later again tell him that he can join us tomorrow, sound fair?” Timothy suggested, grabbing a tray for him.

“Eh fair enough, it just surprised me that he ran off too quickly” Jane said, also taking a tray and handing the extra two to the twins.

As the sibling gets in line to get their food, a familiar face had bumped into Jane, it was the same group of girls from earlier. “Watch where you’re going, new girl” Jane eyed on them for a few seconds,

“And I can’t believe I will be stuck with those faces for the rest of the school year eugh-“Jane muttered. “I just hope it will not turn out like one of those high school movies we had watched”.

“Not even close, there maybe a few group of blockheads here and there but don’t let those get to you” Timothy said. “And again, stay out of trouble, just ignore them”

“High school isn’t that bad Jane” Barnaby B said after taking a spoonful of food “It’s normal to adjust in new learning environment, you’ll get the hang of it soon”

“Besides, you just need to find the right friends, take that Cody kid for example” Barnaby A added. “I mean if you guys expand your circle, you got twice the power over those kids” he chuckled.

“Yeah I guess you’re right B, I mean it’s just the first day, what’s the worst that could happen?” Jane said. “I’ll take that advice A, except for the whole gang wars thing”.

The twins raised their thumbs up as sign of approval.

\---

After the free period, the second bell rang. The siblings began walking separately in different directions, “See you guys after school, ok?” Tim said, with Jane and the twins nodding in response before heading off completely.

Timothy walked down the hallway to get to his next class; Social Studies. One of his friends sneaked up behind him and grabbed the boy by the shoulders, before giving him a head nudge, it was Augustine along with Ronan and Matthew

“W-what hey!” Tim squealed.

“Hehe- Long time no see skinny bones!” he said with glee.

“Ever since I told you that, you never let it go, did you?” Tim chuckled.

Now, some might guess that Ronan or Matthew was the most rambunctious out of the four, but they say to never judge a book by their cover, as Augustine acts as the influencer of their behaviors, not that the boy has bad intentions, it’s just this red-head’s personality matches his mood, much like how a mad-hatter would color match his outfits.

Upon reaching the classroom, the boys occupied the empty seats that are right next to each other. Except for Timothy,

“Excuse me? Would it be ok for you to move to another seat?” Matthew politely asked the student next to him, “My friend over here needs a place to sit”

“M-Mat! - No, it’s ok” Timothy shyly resisted “T-there are other empty seat at the back, I’ll just take those, thanks for the offer by the way”

“Are you sure? You’ll be alone there” Augustine said.

“Don’t worry too much of me, I’ll catch on later” Timothy said before heading at the empty back seat and occupied it.

He watched his friends talk to one another while he sat there silently, time does fly by when one is enjoying themselves or rather getting to know yourself, and for Timothy, he felt like he have both of it. The friendship that he gained helped him get through a few of his confining traumas and have gained more and more confidence, in each passing day, it’s as if he would not want it to end. Until he remembered what his mother Linda told him,

_“Change is hard”_

It’s true that it is, he was just starting to get really comfortable with the friends, and it only takes one more year in high school before all of this ends and move up to college. Making him ask, does he really deserve these friends or was it another way to climb up the ladder. Lost in his melancholic thoughts, he crossed his arm on the table and rested his forehead on them.

Not for a longer minute, a familiar face from earlier resurfaced, she gracefully walked in the class and began looking out for an empty seat until she spotted the chair next to Timothy, she looked down at her feet and walked straight towards it, not giving eye contact to any student.

When she got there, she took out her inhaler and took a few breathes in before taking a seat. Augustine looked at Timothy and noticed the same girl that he had a chat with in his class from earlier, the other two boys looked at his direction. Augustine called out,

“Bonnie!”

Bonnie looked at Augustine who is signaling for her to tap Timothy’s shoulders to wake him up, confused, she cautiously poked him repeatedly instead. 

“Hu?” the pink haired boy looked up.

Bonnie and Timothy’s eyes widen upon recognizing each other’s faces.

“That’s the charming young lad” Augustine said with a smile on his face, he approaches them while the other two boys followed. “He’s the leader you are looking for”

“Hey uhh- August? Why are you speaking like you’re from the sixteenth century?” Matthew whispered to Augustine from behind. However, Augustine did not hear what his friend said, until this one,

“Was this the motor mouth you told us earlier?” Ronan said,

Augustine turned to Ronan and thumped his forehead, “She can hear you stupid” he said barely above whisper for her not to notice. The thing is, Bonnie did took notice. She began mentally calculating her next actions for the later, sitting there with a relaxed posture despite she felt her body stiffing up.

Bonnie rolled her eyes and shrugged it off, “By the way, was this the leader?” she asked, shifting her eyes to the pink-haired boy.

“Wait, what’s going on?” Tim asked confused. “L-leader?”

“Yep, I called Matthew earlier to keep me updated in the first class” Augustine pointed his thumb at Matthew

“We got sorted out into five groups of students and August wanted to know which group was he sorted to, so I told him everything” Matthew replied,

“And since we are talking during our second subject, I noticed your schedule and room number on the first class” Augustine said to Bonnie.

“Yeah and?” Bonnie said.

“Well since we both missed our first classes, and Tim wasn’t our classmate earlier in Algebra, I thought we could at least catch him here.” Augustine replied. “So you could tell him that you are one of his group mates? Isn’t that the plan?”

“Oh right, my mistake. Thank you Augustine, I appreciate your delightful acquaintance and assistance” Bonnie said.

“Hold on? Leader?! I never heard Ms. Harrington say anything” Timothy claimed, reaching for his bag immediately.

“She did actually” Ronan replied. “Oh right! Me and Tim are talking, sorry about that” Matthew said looking at Tim “Me and Ronan will tell you later”.

Augustine turned his attention to Bonnie, “It’s no problem Ms. Bonnie, and I’ll leave you to him then, Oh and Tim?”

“Yeah, what is it?” the boy said finding the paper with their names on.

“Take care of her aaand good luck…Alright you two, off you go!” Augustine excused himself before pushing back the other two to come along with him. Timothy was left confused with his friends’ awkward behavior,

“This is why I can’t wait to go home…” Bonnie muttered to herself,

“What was that?” Tim asked.

“Nothing…”

“Well in that case, here is the paper and just put your signature next to your name” Timothy showed Bonnie the paper, the girl took it and signed as the boy instructed, before handing it back.

“And since your associates failed to introduce me, might as well introduce myself. The name’s Wheatly. Bonny Sophia Wheatly” She said holding out her hand. “And you are?”

“Uh, Timothy. Timothy Anthony Malachy Willoughby Melanoff” he responded, the boy was a little hesitant to give a hand shake but nevertheless, he did.

“My word, sounds like someone’s parents have way too much time on their hands” Bonnie responded with a chuckle. Although the chuckle made the boy embarrassed, but for Bonnie, it is rather hallow, making it sound like a mimicked reaction than an actual response from her.

“eh-he, my first parents had this crazy idea of naming us wi-“Timothy was cut off before he could finish his sentence,

“Let me guess, they think having as many syllables as possible is the best?” she responded, “And did you say first parents?” she asked.

Timothy is left speechless, not knowing which question to respond to, he just wanted to forget the damage that his first parents gave him and opening up the topic about them might lead the old scars into opening up again,

“I-I’m sorry but things are rather getting too personal but I can do tell that, yes, my parents thought it was a good idea to put as much syllables in the name” he replied.

Bonnie felt like she got the need to ask but respect got the best of her “My apology if I ever broke your personal space, it just got me very curious is all” she said.

Timothy replied, “Anyhow, where do you live from here?”

While the two hold up a conversation, the three boys are looking at them from the front seat. Matthew cannot help his urge to do his thing, he let out a chuckle and began singing off-key,

“Caaan youuu feel the looove tooonight”

Augustine and Ronan laughed, knowing what their friend is doing and so Ronan took out his harmonica and played it, jiving in with Matthew’s tuneless singing and not to long before Augustine joined in. The boys’ merriment caught the attention of the other students as well as Timothy and Bonnie,

Bonnie arched her eyebrow at what was happening while Timothy holds back his laughter,

“Sooo, those are your friends hu?” Bonnie asked. She turned to her bag and reached out, taking out a pocket novel. “I get the feeling that you are just like them”

“N-not really, they can offer more fun than me.” Timothy replied, putting his hand on his nape, “I am pretty much the group’s uhh-“

“The sane one?”

“Excuse me?”

“The sane one, I mean look at them.” Bonnie said, eyeing at the three boys. She pulled out the bookmark in between the pages and cracked the book open.

“Oh don’t worry, they are sane too they just have their own ways of expressing their eccentricities” Timothy said. “I mean you could join us if you want, we got other two friends that are girls who will be joining us on the last subject, I think you will like them”. He gladly offered.

“No thank you, I’m not interested with people that harbor two faces” Bonnie responded passively and began reading her book.

“Friends with...hu?” Timothy’s eyes widen, muttered tilting his head on what the girl have said.

Soon after a man his late forties entered the classroom and announced “Alright, children, Mr. Johnson isn’t here today, I am supposed to be your substitute but I got a staff meeting in a few minutes, so I would have to dismiss all of you early.”

A few students cheered from the announcement and some hurriedly picked up their stuff and leave, one of them is Bonnie, the girl silently picked up her belongings and walk sprint out the classroom, leaving Timothy still speechless. He picked up his belongings and caught up to his friends,

“So how was the Wheatly girl?” Augustine asked Timothy.

“She’s fine…I guess?” Timothy replied, with a second thought in mind “She’s a little bit off but I guess she is a decent person, she did told me that she just transferred here so I guess she was just adjusting”

“Reminds us of someone we used to know” Ronan patted Timothy’s back and smiled.

The pink-haired boy blushed “I even offered her to join us in the last class, I mean there was Loren and Ronan’s girlfriend Colette, and then maybe she wouldn’t be so alone?” Timothy suggested.

\---

As the eldest Melanoff have enough free time on his hands, As for the twins, it was not looking too colorful. Now, there are maybe classes where they end up being separated but in their Physics class, they get a chance to be together and sit next to each other. The gloomy part of this class is that it’s not blessed with a laidback or the cool teacher, Mrs. Salazar is one of those teachers, as we know of, are very strict and known for failing half of their class. She is also known for not tolerating an overly chatty classroom, this is why the Barnaby twins finds her class the most boring one despite the subject being their favorite.

Soon after a girl with a light blue hair rushed in the closed classroom door, startling the students that are calmly seated,

“Ah Ms. Willow Hurst, glad you could join us today” Mrs. Salazar greeted “And where is your sister? She is on my list”.

“Sorry Mrs. Salazar for being late!-“ The girl said trying to catch her breath, “M-my sister was sick and can’t join me today”.

“Alright then, make sure to tell her to give me her clinic and excuse permit. Failure to submit required permits will be considered a deduction to your attendance” Mrs. Salazar said. “Now take your seat”

Willow headed to the empty seat next to B. “Oh hey A” she greeted.

Barnaby B, smiled and waved back. “Hello Willow, So we finally get to see her today?” he asked.

Now Willow, compared to her sister, is more diligent and not the type to cover up someone’s mess unless it is her sister’s. Realizing that Mrs. Salazar being their teacher she worries about her sister appearing in class. As she sat, she took out her phone to check her update her sister, but there is one problem. The phone is out of battery.

Barnaby A leaned to B and asked, “Whose the girl?”

“She’s Willow, she is my classmate earlier in creative writing, she told me that her sister is joining us here today” B answered. “I haven’t met her sister though”

Willow frantically reached in her backpack and muttered in frustration “Shit- I forgot my power bank- this is bad”

“What’s bad?” B turned to her and asked.

“I need to text my sister Juniper, let her know that Mrs. Salazar is here” she whispered.

“But isn’t she sick? You can just tell her later” A chimed in.

Willow gave the twins a smile matched with worried stare, batting her eyelashes rapidly.

“Woop I knew that expression looked familiar, She was somewhere along the campus with her other friends, was she?” B replied.

Willow nodded, trying not to do it much to catch Mrs. Salazar’s attention.

“I am scared that she will be rushi-“

“Hey Wil-lo-ooohhh…” Another girl made her entrance catching the teacher’s attention. However, this one made the teacher very suspicious as if she had witnessed this before. The girl eyed on her sister and froze in her tracks.

“Willow? I thought Juniper was sick?” the stern teacher said looking back at Willow. Willow slid down her chair and covering her face in embarrassment, while the Barnaby twins look at each other surprised, Mrs. Salazar had a dilemma of her own. She noticed the Barnabys sitting next to each other and realized that she got two twin siblings in her class. And by two, it means she knew of how the Barnaby twins would come up with things to liven up the class, she could not imagine what would happen if the Hurst twins join forces with them.


	4. And then there are their families....

The first day of the new school year has been a mix of emotions for the four siblings. First, Jane had a startling experience when it comes to interacting with other teenagers her age, realizing that there are snobby children here and there that one does not simply can get rid of, however, her meeting a fellow aspiring performer was not so bad at all. Second, was Timothy, realizing that constantly getting reminded of his past after meeting a girl that has a few things in common with him and lastly, one of the Barnaby twins, after seeing that his friend has a twin sister, came to an idea of maybe just maybe they can create another friendship dynamic.

After class, the twins waited at the front gates of the school waiting for Jane and Timothy,

“What is taking them so long?” A sighed, he puts down his bag and leaned next to his twin by the wall. “I still can’t believe you never told me about Willow” he said to B.

“I did, you are just tad forgetful at times” B chuckled “We even invited her to dinner last semester before the school year ends, remember? Along with Timothy’s friends Ronan, Matthew and uhhh…”

“Augustine?” A said,

“And I thought I was forgetful, you remembered August but not Willow?” B tapped his twin’s forehead playfully

“Ey stop with that- I remembered now…Still it’s surprising that she got a twin” A said, fixing his bangs. “What if…The four of us team up?”

“On what?” B asked.

“Look I am not taking another boring class with Mrs. Salazar as a teacher, and it’s physics class, you know how many ideas we can come up with in that” A claimed “Maybe, just maybe we can make it a little, oh I don’t know, better? I mean after seeing her twin I can tell already that they are just like us”

“Hmmm I wouldn’t say that though-“B said,

“Oh there they are” A said upon seeing their siblings, he picked up his bag and B’s, handling it to him.

The four siblings began walking and headed off home together, with a few blocks on the way, they felt a sudden rush of nostalgia, upon reaching the window of the travel agency. It feels like it was only yesterday that they try to give a little orphan a home to meticulously planning their orphaning opportunity, when then they came across a familiar location, the siblings’ smiles were replaced with uncertainty, when they saw where there once stood an old fashioned home, now replaced with a humble modern family house and its glistening gates proudly facing the sidewalks. The three siblings decided to continue walking, while Timothy’s attention was caught by a black car, stopping in front of the modern house, a man with fair skin and lighter brown hair stepped out as well as a teenage girl whose palettes were familiar, it was Bonnie, and assuming that the man was her father.

The boy’s gaze is fixated, not at the girl but at her differences of what seemed to be her father. Her appearance looks nothing like him, perhaps her mother’s? He thought. And despite the appearance of their modern home, Bonnie and her father seem to be dressed in an old-fashioned clothing, he even remembered how the girl talked and acted towards him.

The girl noticed Timothy before he could even turn his back. The girl gave a faint smile and a wave back at him, Timothy gave a small wave and a smile. The man of what seem to be her father gave the boy a cold gaze, he put his hand on Bonnie’s shoulder and escorted her back while he stares at him.

“Tim? Are you coming?” Jane called out.

“Uhh yes, just, never mind” He said, catching up to his siblings.

“Who is that, Tim?” A asked.

“Just some girl in our class, she’s new so my friends and I are showing her around” Tim answered. “I didn’t know she lives there, too bad I can’t stomach looking at that place” he squirmed at the thought.

“Complete opposite for me, Cody was showing me around. I didn’t knew he would repeat freshmen year, that explains why he knows so much about the place” Jane said. “How about you twins? How is everything?” she asked the twins.

“We just got a new pair of twins in physics class. The rest went pretty well though” B answered.

“Twins? Let me guess they are Hurst twins?” Jane said.

“How did you know?” A asked.

“Cody told me about them, they used to let him stay at their place after his parents…Which reminds me I need to ask Dad about that” Jane said “and I for one can’t wait to meet the twins then we can all hangout!” she cheerfully suggested.

“Hell Yeah! And then Tim can also bring his new friend too” B said.

“And who knows it may grow from there hehe-“A teased nudging B’s elbow.

“Oh come on guys, she is just a friend, two I am not interested in dating like most of my friends do.” Timothy answered with his cheeks flushed pink “I-I got goals to finish”

“Jeez, man, can you even take a joke?” Jane giggled.

\----

“Dude! I told you to text me, I almost got in trouble with Mrs. Salazar” Juniper said, taking another sip of her grape slushy.

“I’m sorry, my phone died and I forgot my power bank, on the bright side Mrs. Salazar let everything slide” Willow said, making small paper boats with a piece of tissue paper.

“So about B, I didn’t know the dude got a twin” Juniper said.

“He does, I bet the two are as surprised as we are. To be honest, they remind me of us” Willow said with a sweet smile. She then took a piece of her fries and eats it.

“Aside from being twins, what else?” Juniper asked.

“They are adopted too, like us” Willow answered “I guess we aren’t the only ones that got adopted by a great mom”.

“Really? Wow, small world…I know there are like small chances of meeting kids like us, who knew it would be today” Juniper shrugged with a proud smile on her face and continued eating, meanwhile Willow averted her gaze from her sister and look out the window staring at the sun that is nearly setting, her smile becoming a bittersweet one “and are both loved equally” she muttered to herself.

“Hu?” Juniper asked,

“N-Nothing, look let’s get home…We don’t want mother to keep waiting” Willow said.

Skipping a few minutes ahead to the Hurst household, a cheerful music is heard from the inside, a woman in her mid-fourties is holding a vacuum and a cloth cleaner, with every step she dances along to the beat while she cleans the apartment space, there was a faint knock at the door but she could not hear it, during the second time, it was loud enough to catch her attention. She immediately turned down the deafening music and opened the door,

“Oh welcome home you two!” She greeted Willow and Juniper. The twins gave the woman a hug, their attention went to the boxes that are seated at the countertop. She noticed that the twins are eyeing on them, so she lets go and went behind the counter, holding up the two boxes with a smile,

“I got you two something” She hands each box to the twins,

“Presents?” Juniper traces her finger on the sealed box and giggled “it’s not our birthday though.”

“I know it’s not but open it, I bet you’ll like what’s inside” the woman said, excitedly.

“Aww mother Emily, I-it’s really nice of you” Willow said nervously and gently opens the box, and Juniper opened hers too.

The box reveals two sweaters, a purple for Juniper and a lime green one for Willow. The twins smiled at each other and hurriedly wears them together,

“So did you guys like it?” Emily said “I went out to buy some kitchen utensils at the store down town and since I am passing the clothes store, I decided to pick up something for you guys”

“Oh my God yes! I love them! It goes so well with my sneakers, right Wills?” Juniper said.

Willow kept looking at the fluffy sleeves but her neutral expression is noticeable enough for Emily to say “What’s wrong Willow? Don’t you like it dear?” the woman looked at her worriedly.

“N-no! I love it…It’s just, I don’t know what to say” Willow claimed, her face flushed red and hid half of her face with the sleeves.

Emily hugged the girls tightly, “I always wanted to see you guys happy” she said with a huge smile on her face “Don’t worry, I will work twice as hard to give you guys the love and comfort that you need. She is tough as an ox, yeah?” she said, flexing her arm like a champion.

Juniper giggled at the face Emily makes, “Don’t worry, after high school, it’s our turn to make you happy too, right Willow?!” she said nudging her sister, which to Willow replied with faint happy nod.

\---

Meanwhile back in Wheatly household, Bonnie and her father stopped by the kitchen there stood a tall man by the stove heating up a pot of tea, he is wearing a plain white shirt and a black bow tie, he is what seemed to be their family butler,

“Boris!” Mr. Wheatly called out.

“Ah Good Afternoon, Mr. Arthur and to you too Ms. Bonnie” he smiled at both of them.

“Was the tea ready? I am very parched” Mr. Arthur said.

“B-Boris don’t call me M-“Bonnie is cut off with her father halting her with his arm and gaze, making Bonnie cross her arm and pout.

“What did I say about chiming in an Adult conversation?” Mr. Arthur said,

“Shut my mouth when you are the first one to initiate?” Bonnie answered. “There wasn’t even a conversation to begin with to be fair”

“I said zip it” Mr. Arthur said pinching his fingers and pressing them against his lips, which to the little girl responded with a nod,

“Good” Mr. Arthur said raising his eyebrow, the man turn his attention to the family table and took a seat on one of the chair, Boris took a warm pot of tea and a drinking cup, bringing it to Mr. Arthur and pouring him a cup of it,

“Take a load of Monsieur, you look stressed” he calmed him down,

Soon after a loving voice of a woman echoed outside the kitchen, “Is he here?!” a woman with fair skin and blonde hair entered, she is wearing a chiffon dress looking like one of those mothers from the sixties magazine.

“Good afternoon Mrs. Helena.” Boris greeted with a bow, “How is the bake shoppe?”

“As usual, firing incompetent people…You know, the one who thinks they got bigger ideas than the owner?” She said, looking at Boris from head to toe, she walked over to her husband and completely ignoring Bonnie, the couple gave each other a kiss and Mrs. Helena sat next to her husband, taking a cup of tea.

Bonnie and Boris exchanged looks, Boris waves his hand to the girl, telling her to initiate a conversation, “Gee I wonder who else mother have forgotten?” Bonnie said, hoping that she would get the woman’s attention, she did, although,

“If you want to tell us something then come over here” Mrs. Helena said,

Bonnie narrowed her eyebrows and walks over to the counter, grabbing a plate of sandwich, “Thanks Boris” she thank the calm butler, and headed to the table.

She sat there in silence and eyeing on her parents who are lovingly talking to each other, she takes half of the sandwich and takes a bite, after swallowing she asked, “So, how is work mom and dad?” she watch the couple who are continuing to talk,

Bonnie decided that she is annoyed enough with the mushy talk and began to fake a cough without covering her mouth,

“Bonnie!” her father called,

“I knew I will get your attention, hehe- Anyways! I asked how you are you, two” Bonnie cheekily asked.

“By the way did you pick this girl up from her school?” Helena asked her husband,

“Oh I did” Arthur said sipping his tea,

“Good thing she didn’t ran off to one of her…Low-grade acquaintances” Helena said,

“Until I saw her waving at young lad” he looked at Bonnie squinting his eyes. “This better not be one of those becoming of age non-sense”

Boris rolls his eyes at how the man talks, can these couple allow their teenage girl to at least act her age? He thought, time is too short to be this nitpicky about everything she does.

Bonnie felt herself shrink a little when her parents both looked at her suspiciously, Helena puts down her cup of tea and said, “Bonnie?”

“H-he was just a friend! He’s actu-“The girl flinched after hearing her mother slam her palm on the table,

“Bonnie, sweetie. What did we say about taking your classes seriously?” Helena asked with an irritated smile on her face.

“Madame, it’s the first day, M-maybe you could be a little bit more lose?” Boris suggested, covering himself with a silver platter.

“Did I tell you to speak Boris? Or do you want me to send your ass back to your French mother?” Mrs. Helena said.

Bonnie pursed her lips and held her hands together, her jaw feeling like it is locked, making her unable to answer, she just looks up at them with her head tilted down. She felt tensed, just coming up with the answer, does she tell her the truth or make up a lie? Either way it feels like she got nowhere to go. Her mother pinches her nose bridge and sighed,

“Let’s get one thing straight, if I see your grades fail this year all because of some boy, then it’s in the tool shack with you...” Helena said waiting for the girl to answer “Do I make myself clear!”

“Y-YES! - M- mother” Bonnie nodded.

“Boris, now you can intervene, would you be so kind to take Bonnie upstairs?” Ms. Helena said.

“But shouldn’t sh-“ Boris was interrupted.

“Nah- ah- What did I say?” Helena said “Take her upstairs, she needs to do her homework”

“Wait how did you know I got homework?” Bonnie asked.

“I already went through your stuff darling, I mean what kind of mother will I be if I don’t keep track of my daughter’s performances” Helena said, dramatically putting her hand on her chest. “You are not take dinner, until it is done”

Bonnie lowered her head as she gets escorted by Boris to her bedroom, by the time they passed by his bedroom, Boris stopped and looked around to see if Helena is following them. He entered and said “Stay there for a bit, I’ll get something”

Bonnie waited outside, it wasn’t long till she saw Boris carrying a paper bag and hands it over to her, the bag is warm and caught a whiff of chicken in it, they kept walking to her room,

“What’s this?” She asked the man,

“I knew your parents will do the same thing like they always do, it’s been a cycle dear it has becoming dull and dire” he said “So I prepared you early dinner before you guys come home, of course I took it to my bedroom and wait for the perfect moment to give it to you”

“Thank you Boris…S-sorry for the trouble my parents have caused throughout the year” Bonnie said as she squeaked from the tears that are about to come out. "I promise that your efforts will not go to waste"

“Shhh- it’s ok dear child" Boris gently pats Bonnie's head, "don’t worry you got me it's just, all I ask is to never talk back to Helena and Arthur, you know what those two insidious couple can do to you” The butler said.

“And this is why I see you as a dad ever since I was kid…Thank you Boris” Bonnie said as she entered her room, “ By the way how will I give this to you?”

“No need, just hide it under the bed and I’ll pick it up tomorrow” Boris said proudly.

“Boris!” Called Arthur from below.

“That’s my queue, just remember to eat that before doing your homework, I wouldn’t want an empty stomach ruin your focus” Boris said before taking his leave.


	5. Then there is ours

Sometimes, things are better left unanswered but what if it kept bugging the person that bares the secret?

At the dinner table the Melanoffs all sat and enjoyed their meal, each family member have a story to tell of how their days went,

"First day was amazing, not really, but nonetheless amazing! I met new friends along the way but Cody was the prominent one" Jane said.

"How about you twins hows the first day?" The commander asked.

"It was boring during the first half of the period" A said. His expression of disinterest changes to excitement when he remembered, "Oh but we met other twins in Physics class"

"Remember when I said that Willow has a sister?" B said to the couple.

"Oh Willow? Hows my teen girlfriend doing?" Linda asked.

"Turns out its also her twin" B answered.

"Mrs. Salazar will sure have a one helluva semester" A snickered.

"I don't think Willow is the type to be on board with shenanigans, Barnaby, but Juniper? Oh yeah I can definitely tell" B said.

"What about you Ruth? How is your first day?" Said Jane, happily looking at the blue haired little girl who apparently has a knack for playing with her food.

"She was a bit scared to go off on her own, so daddy have to sit next to her inside the classroom too. And let me tell ya, the chairs aren't comfy" the commander said, "she did pretty well actually, isn't that right little Ruthie? Show them your happy stamp"

"I gut a biiig stawr" the little kid showed off a stamped star on the back of her palm, followed by the four siblings applauding her. The cat meowing in response as well.

"Hmhm! That's my little girl!" Linda kissed Ruth's forehead before giving her another spoonful of oats.

"How about you son? How's the Junior year?" The commander asked Timothy.

"Oh uh- It's great! Matthew, Augustine and Ronan are still my classmates this year. I feel like we will be for the rest of the senior year too" Timothy said. "But I met this new kid who kind of reminded me of what once was?"

"What once was? What do you mean?" The commander said and looked at Linda.

"She is rather old-fashioned so to speak. We also saw where she lives, it was in the same place where our Willoughby house were " Timothy answered with his hands gesturing up in the air as he explains himself. "She was nice tho, a bit awkward since she just transferred to our school".

"You mean they were the ones that bought the lot? Hu, who knew that area attracts old fashioned folk" Linda said arching her eyebrow.

"Oh their house is VERY modern, it's her and her family that look rather old fashioned...She sounded like one to" Timothy answered.

A spark of curiosity gleamed in Jane's eyes when she remembered what Cody have told her, she couldn't help but to ask the commander,

"Hey Dad?"

"Yep?" Said the commander

"What's it like to be divorced? Was it hard?" 

The commander had a choking feeling as he coughed up from Jane's question, he hurriedly grabs the glass of water next to his plate and to dows himself down.

"Oh my lord! What brought that up all the sudden?" He said, and took another drink,

"Sorry, I was just curious, I have this friend whose parents are divorced and well...I was wondering what does it feel like?" Jane asked sheepishly.

The commander looked at his wife all worried, Linda smiled and held his left hand in an affirming manner,

"It's alright sugar daddy, you can tell em"

The commander took a few moment to gather his memories, he decided to tell it in a way that he believes the kids will understand,

"Well it was hard and complicated...It felt like your entire life is falling apart, we have that thing call the spark of love and it had drifted away…I- I had this heavy mix of bitterness and confusion, as if I am are going insane, then at some point you will try to figure out what will you do with your life, you are just left wondering what happens next."

He looked at the siblings and Ruth, giving a sweet smile, "But in my happy ending, I found love from an angel again." The commander said, giving his wife a loving look and Linda kissed her husband's cheek and gently pats his hand.

Jane could not grasp the emotion of what the commander was describing, even though she understands every sentence, her hunch was right, she is too young to even understand it, but the worry in her father's eyes is enough to tell the girl that it's not a very pleasant experience.

"Whose friend is this?" The commander asked Jane,

"Oh just some friend, he told me some things that made me brought up the entire conversation" Jane said, "s-sorry if I am a bit intrusive with my question dad"

"Nah it's no problem dear!" The commander said.

"Tell him that our doors are open, if he ever wants to stop by, alright? We love to see and meet this kid" Linda added.

"Why don't we invite him this weekend, you know along with Willow's sister Juniper?" B eagerly suggested.

"Oh yeah, the hattastic weekend fun, which reminds me I got to pick up some snacks after work" The commander said, happily picking up little Ruthie before carrying her in his arms.

"Don't worry dad we got it! Right twins?" Jane said filled with confidence. The twins held their thumbs up together as an agreement.

"What about you Tim? Don't you want to bring that new friend of yours too?" A asked before taking a spoonful.

"Sure I'll ask her, but there may be a slim chance of her joining" Timothy answered.

"Oh that's fine, she can join us whenever then" the commander said, giving Ruth a drink.

"Ok momma bear's gotta clean up over here, why don't you guys" Linda said as she began picking up the plates,

The commander along with little Ruthie, Jane and the twins headed out the kitchen. Except for Timothy. He began helping out Linda to clean up the table, Timothy was a little bit hesitant to strike up a conversation but,

"Hey uhh mom?"

"Yes, what is it Tim?" Linda said, she looked at him, "hold on dear, aren't you going to dress up? I mean I got the kitchen handled"

"N-no, I wanted to help out, after all our mess our clean up" Timothy said with a sheepish smile as he placed the plates on the small tub on the sink.

Linda giggled before taking over the sink, she turned on the faucet, taking the sponge and started to soap up the dirty dishes. There is silence between them, the woman noticed her son giving off that vibe, you know, the one where one felt like they want to ask you something but always holds back?

“Tim? Are you alright?” Linda asked.

"Well I was wondering” he paused and sat on the dry counter next to the sink, “I know I am going to sound ignorant but… Do you think that there are people out there that are like us?" Timothy asked with burning curiosity in his eyes.

"Well… The world is big Tim, there are maybe a few or more people out there that may have the same story as us, but I feel like it would be great to meet a few" Linda said as she picks up another plate to clean.

Timothy listened, his left hand touched a soft fabric, he looked at it and picked it up; it was a drying cloth. The boy slid himself down the counter and grabs one wet plate then wipes it dry. He one by one puts them in the dish cabinet. Linda is aware that her son is still hesitant to ask bigger things, the boy always has this look in his eyes that just craves for answers to his questions, but all she can do is,

"You know Tim, truth be told, out there can be a too heartless at times.” She sighed “So all we can do is be the opposite of that, kindness can go a long way"

The boy looked up from what he is doing and said, "But isn't it hard? Just to keep being kind like that?" Timothy asked. He pursed his lips, he felt like what he said was a little insensitive, “W-what I mean is! Uhhh… Isn’t it draining to give out kindness just like that?”

Linda smiled and let out a faint chuckle, she wiped her hands dry before cupping the eldest child’s face, and she kissed his forehead and said,

"If there is one thing your momma learned is that, it's ok to cry, it’s ok to take a rest when you are tired. But never ever give up. Never let what is out there harden you, alright?"

Timothy hugged back and nodded, he grew up much like other teenagers, when an adult tells them a though provoking wisdom, they just wonder and just put the pieces later on. After all this is the first time he got a healthy adult in his life. He and Linda both put everything away in a safe place before turning off the lights and heading out the kitchen.

"Alright whose up for a short family tv before heading off to bed?" Linda asked. In Which the twins raised their hands to in response,

"I-I'll head off, I got homework to do" Timothy said before grabbing his backpack.

"My friend gave me his playlist today sooo I'll pass tonight, I want to listen to these" Jane followed and holding up her phone.

"Alright, goodnight guys" A said. Grabbing a bucket of popcorn and handing it to B.

"Little Ruthie still got classes tomorrow so she is off to dreamland for tonight" Linda said, she picked up the baby from the sofa and carried Ruth in her arms.

"You three head to bed soon ok? Remember to unplug everything before heading to bed" Linda advised.

The Commander and the twins agreed and continued watching. While Timothy and Jane head upstairs to their bedroom.

"Weekend night is gonna be exciting, don't you think?" Jane said.

"Yeah, but I feel like I will end up inviting the troublesome trio than the new girl" Tim answered with a half a smile on his face.

"Anyways see ya tomorrow bro" Jane said, as she reached to her bedroom door and went inside.

Timothy reached on his door and went in as well. He set down his backpack and took out his notebooks. He felt his phone ring and turned it on, he saw a message from Augustine but he was to tired that all he can think of is finishing his homework before throwing himself to bed.

\------

Jane puts down her bag on the bed and reached for her phone. As she opened it, she saw that there are links sent by Cody.

_Here are the musical playlist you requested, hope you listen to em._

Jane grabbed her ear phones and plugged them in, putting each bud on her ear and began listening to the songs. Minutes past and something caught the girl's attention, majority of the songs in the playlist consists of controversial themes that involves freedom and humanitarian rights, as she gets lost in the melodies it also gave her a spark to write things down. She grabbed her notebook and began jotting down anything she can think of.

\-----

Meanwhile, after a brief family t.v night, the twins kissed their mom and dad goodnight before heading upstairs. Linda took a sleeping little Ruth to her bedroom, and tucked her in for the night. When Linda turned around, there was her husband looking back her and the little girl, his expression was rather bittersweet and rather out there, from then, she felt like something was off,

"What's wrong sugar?" Asked Linda. Walking out the room and slowly closing the door behind her.

"Oh, nothin' really." the commander replied although sighing under his breath, Linda chuckled and gently wraps her arm around her husband's as both of them walk to their bedroom.

"I am honestly ok with it. I have already expected that someday the kids will ask us about our previous lives" answered Linda,

She walked to her dresser and take out her sleeping attire and taking off her hairband. The commander walked over to her, he hugged his wife from behind and gently rested his head on her shoulder,

"A-a m I even doing a great job?" The commander asked.

She turns to him and said, "Why of course you do!", resting her head on his chest with a conforming smile on her face, "You have no idea how much I am proud to call you my husband, even the kids are proud of ya!"

A hallow chuckle, escaped her lips, "I for one...Sometimes wonder if you and the kids are proud of me too."

Sometimes why does he even bother to mop around, whenever he realizes that he and his wife mirrors each other's insecurities of when it comes to raising a family of their own and considering both have started in two different rocky roads, the commander's doubt is replaced by a playful thought,

"You know what I'll say to that?" The commander said,

The woman just looked at her husband waiting for him to answer, with her eyes filled with curiosity and worry, the next thing she knows, it is replaced with a knee jerk reaction and snorting laughter when her husband gave her a playful tickle and kisses to cheer her up. Their laughter fills the room, as much as it echoes for the children upstairs to hear it.

"Alright, Alright doll, I get the memo" she laughed, "we need to get some rest now tho, the kids still have classes tomorrow,"

"Oh, right. How about we take turns, you go with little Ruthie tomorrow and I'll go with the kids?" The commander suggested.

"Hehe, sure that sounds fair"

Linda lets go from her husband's arms and took her clothes to get changed inside the comfort room, and within a few minutes she returned, before laying down next to her husband.


End file.
